The White House on Wednesday sought to place distance between President Biden’s family and the mysterious cocaine discovered in the West Wing over the weekend, saying the first family was gone all weekend and the drug was discovered in a “heavily traveled” part of the complex.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Mr. Biden was briefed on what happened and expects the Secret Service to get to the bottom of it. She declined to name a likely culprit but signaled the Biden family should not be suspected.
“The president and the first lady and their family were not here this weekend,” she said. “They left on Friday and returned just yesterday.”
Mr. Biden and his family, including the president’s son Hunter, left the White House on Friday for Camp David. Mr. Biden and his family returned to the capital on Tuesday for Independence Day celebrations.
Speculation from critics on the right quickly went to Hunter Biden, who has admitted a past addiction to crack cocaine. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer tweeted Tuesday that if the drug were found in the Old Executive Office Building, “it’s likely staff. If it’s the mansion, it’s likely Hunter.”
The Secret Service said the location of the discovery was not the executive residence, but the West Wing, which includes the Oval Office and offices for key staff and aides.
Guests who go through security on visits to the complex are asked to leave their phones in small boxes near one of the main entrances to the wing. The drug was found near those boxes, according to reports from The Washington Post and CBS News.
“It is where visitors to the West Wing come through,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said. “I’m not going to speculate on who it was.”
She said Mr. Biden was briefed by staff on “everything we know so far.”
“We’re going to allow, certainly, the investigation to continue and we have confidence that the Secret Service will get to the bottom of this,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.
She declined to fault screeners for allowing an illicit substance to get on the grounds, saying it is important to let the investigation play out.
The White House was evacuated Sunday evening after the Secret Service discovered a powdery substance.
Secret Service agents were doing routine rounds when the substance was found in an area of the West Wing that is accessible to tour groups.
Firefighters and emergency crews arrived and performed a field test, which preliminarily identified the substance as cocaine.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi on Wednesday said formal tests confirmed the substance to be cocaine.
Like the White House, he said the drug “was located in an area within the West Wing with heavy foot traffic from any authorized individual,” which could include press, West Wing tours, staff and visitors.
Ms. Jean-Pierre declined to describe the location with more specificity, citing the ongoing investigation. There are multiple entrances to the West Wing, including a prominent one that is sometimes guarded by a U.S. Marine.
White House employees are allowed to give staff-led tours to guests, who can view certain floors of the West Wing and get a glimpse of the Oval Office and other key rooms. Those tours can occur on weekends and evenings.
Ms. Jean-Pierre said there were staff-led tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday but they are not given on federal holidays.
The Secret Service declined to comment on whether cameras had captured the incident.
“Because it is an ongoing investigation, we are not making any additional comments outside of the confirmation that the substance was cocaine based on laboratory testing,” Mr. Guglielmi said.
The strange spectacle of a White House press secretary being forced to answer questions about illegal drugs in the White House prompted reaction across the political sphere.
“What a time to be alive,” Ken Farnaso, a spokesman for GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley, tweeted with a photo of a Fox News chyron about cocaine and the daily briefing.
Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, said the episode raised questions about security at the White House, where sensitive government business is conducted. He urged Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to release as much information as possible.
“I urge you to release that information quickly, as the American people deserve to know whether illicit drugs were found in an area where confidential information is exchanged,” Mr. Cotton wrote in a letter to the director. “If the White House complex is not secure, Congress needs to know the details, as well as your plan to correct any security flaws.”
The Secret Service said the cocaine did not pose a threat, and the complex was reopened later on Sunday.
Former Vice President Mike Pence said the discovery of cocaine at the White House would have generated 24/7 news during the Trump administration.
“It would be wall to wall, and frankly, it should be,” Mr. Pence told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “We ought to know in real-time who brought and left cocaine on a table in the residence in the White House, but I’m not holding my breath.”
Mr. Hewitt corrected Mr. Pence by pointing to reports that the cocaine was found in a workspace in the West Wing.
• Alex Miller contributed to this story.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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